The Wild West Shootout announced it will not be returning to Vado Speedway Park in 2026, but will be moving to Central Arizona Raceway.

In a post on the Wild West Shootout website, the event shared, “Officials are proud to announce that the 20th running of the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts will be held at Central Arizona Raceway (Casa Grande, Ariz.) on Jan. 10 – 18, 2026.” Central Arizona Raceway is about an hour south of Phoenix.

Specifically, the event will have race programs featuring Super Late Models, Modifieds, and X-Mods on January 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, and 18.

Chris Kearns, the co-promoter of the Wild West Shootout stated, “First and foremost, I can’t stress enough how thankful we are for all that Royal Jones and Vado Speedway Park have done for us over the past four years of the Wild West Shootout. He provided us with a state-of-the-art facility along with continuing to be a devoted event marketing partner. There’s no way the Wild West Shootout would be entering year twenty without his support.”

“From the time we moved the event to New Mexico, we all knew that we hoped to one day get the event back to where it all started in Arizona,” he continued. “Brad Whitfield and his staff have done some incredible things with Central Arizona Raceway over the last few years with even more improvements on the docket. With that in mind, we are thrilled to be working with him and his staff at Central Arizona Raceway to ‘bring the event back home.”

Central Arizona Raceway promoter Brad Whitfield also stated, “The return of the Wild West Shootout back home to Arizona, where it all began, has always been in the back of my mind. For it to become a reality by partnering with the Wild West Shootout ownership group is a huge honor. It’s also a great tribute to Ernie Mincy. He got this event off the ground in the early 2000’s here at Central Arizona Raceway. Again, I couldn’t be more proud, and I can’t wait for January 2026 to get here!”

Bobby Pierce is the defending champion of the series. He best Garrett Alberson, Tyler Erb, Brandon Sheppard, and Drake Troutman earlier this year. He also won the event in 2024. Jonathan Davenport beat out Kyle Larson and Pierce in 2023. In 2022, Mike Marlar took home the championship in its first year at Vado. The last time the event was held in Arizona at the now defunct Arizona Speedway in 2021, Davenport was the champion.